The Great Video Game Mystery!
by Sonic2nd
Summary: COMPLETED: When a mysterious figure threatens Sonic's life, Shadow & Silver team up in order to catch the culprit. Will they succeed? Or will Shadow realize that he might actually be the world's worst detective? Please read & review.
1. The First Suspect

**The Great Video Game Mystery! **

**Who is Trying to Kill Sonic?**

**By Sonic2nd**

_Author's Notes: This is a real mystery story. The culprit is a REAL platforming video game character from the 90's. I will leave clues in each chapter. See if you can figure out who it is!_

Sonic the hedgehog (along with Shadow & Silver) are at Sega Headquarters. They stand and wait as Sonic sorts through the mail.

Sonic smiles proudly. "I have 87 letters. Beat that, Shadow!"

"Well, I happen to have 64 letters." The black hedgehog replies.

Silver looks at both of them. "Umm.. I have 46 letters. Does that mean anything?"

"Of course it does. It means that I am still the most popular character out of everyone here." Sonic answers.

Silver notices a letter on the ground. "I think you dropped one."

Shadow picks the letter up inspecting the envelope carefully. "It appears to be a letter for Sonic but there's no return address."

Sonic yanks the letter from Shadow and begins to open it. "It just looks like another typed out fan letter."

"What does it say?" Silver asks.

"Why Silver, do you really need to ask? It's another letter from one of my many many fans telling me how great I am. Which I already know of course."

"Do you know how irritating you can be to others then?" Shadow asks sending Sonic an annoyed glance.

"Quit being so negative, Shadow. It's quite unbecoming."

Before Shadow can reply to that remark Sonic begins reading from the letter.

_ Sonic,_

_For far too long you been allowed to exist. Appearing in many video games & in other media. My own success might have been small. But it is I who should be Sega's mascot. Instead, I have been forgotten & abandoned over for quite some time. No more I say! I will kill you! Once you are gone I shall get the fame & glory that I truly deserve! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!_

_ Sincerely Anonymous,_

"That's certainly unusual, isn't it?" Sonic asks.

Silver leans over to examine the letter. "This appears to be printed on recyclable paper…"

Shadow ignores Silver as he stares at Sonic with a serious look on his face.

"Sonic, You do realize that someone is trying to kill you."

"There's no need to worry. It's just an empty threat." His wristwatch starts beeping. "Time's up. I have a important meeting to go to. See ya!" He waves to them before running off.

"What if this person really means it?! What if he tries to kill Sonic? What if he's watching us right now?" Silver worries.

"Sonic can't die. He's the one thing that's keeps us all together. Besides, he won't be able to succeed because I'm going to stop him." Shadow says as he walks away.

"How are you going to catch him?" Silver asks.

"I'm going to figure out who this mysterious person is."

"I want to help." Silver starts to follow before Shadow to abruptly turns around.

"I don't need any help. I can do this on my own."

"You'll be able to find this person much quicker if you'll let me work with you. Besides I have as much of a right to help Sonic as you do." Silver stares back at Shadow with a look of fierce determination on his face.

Shadow sighs in a rather frustrated manner. "Fine, you can tag along but only if you promise not to get in my way."

Silver perks up. With a smile on his face he begins to run ahead of Shadow. "I promise. Now let's get going!"

"That's no way to travel. Follow me." Shadow commands.

A few minutes later Silver finds himself in a buggy with Shadow at the wheel.

"Are we heading to anywhere in particular?" Silver asks.

"Yes, I already know who is behind all of this.." In his mind Shadow pictures a small frightened Sonic pleading on his knees while a menacing figure looms from above.

"_Please don't kill me!" A scared Sonic begs._

_HA HA HA! Look at how pathetic you've become! You should be thanking me for putting you out of your misery!!"_

An enraged Shadow snaps out of his own thoughts as he quickly steers the buggy around a tight corner. "It's Mario! Mario the plumber!!"

"What?! How can that be?!"

"No one can be that nice & cheerful all of the time! Don't you see?! It's all part of his devious ploy!" Shadow pulls into a parking lot and shuts the engine off. He leaps out of his buggy & begins to run towards the entrance of the official Nintendo Gym!

Silver jumps out of the buggy following Shadow. "Wait, Shadow! You don't even have any proof!"

"This letter.." Shadow says as he holds it up in the air. "..is all of the proof that I need!" He slams open the door & begins to shout. "Everyone, stop what you're doing!!" The people stop & stare at Shadow as Silver sheepishly hides behind him. Shadow turns his head slightly towards Silver. "Don't just stand there like a idiot!"

"Umm.. okay." Silver uses his psychokinesis power to freeze a punching bag in it's place.

"Mario!" Shadow calls out. "I know you're in here! Come out where I can see you!"

Mario steps out of the swimming pool while another figure ducks into the water.

"Silver, apprehend whoever is hiding down there!"

Silver dashes over to the pool while Mario casually strolls up to a rather angry looking Shadow.

"Why hello there. Would you like to join our exercise program?" Mario smiles at Shadow, which infuriates him even more.

"Can the friendly act! I know that you're after Sonic!"

"Sonic? Why he's.." Mario stops trying to think of what to say. The two are interrupted as Silver uses his power to lift the figure up from out of the pool.

Silver gasps when sees that the figure is Sonic himself!

"Aha! You were trying to drown Sonic. That's low, plumber. **Real** low.." Shadow narrows his eyes as he looks at everyone else in the room. "And none of you even tried to stop him! I knew it! That nice friendly image at Nintendo is all a façade! All of you are accomplishes to this attempted murder! You're all under arrest!"

Silver gently lowers Sonic to ground. He gets up then quickly dashes over to Shadow and covers his mouth.

"MMMPPH! MMM HMPP!!"

"Sorry about that, Mario. My friend has a habit of going overboard." He says casually trying to cover up his embarrassment.

Mario stares at the angry black hedgehog as he backs away a little. "That's alright, Sonic. But your friend he's not going to hurt anyone is he?"

"He won't hurt you guys. I'll make sure of it." Sonic answers as he lets go of Shadow.

"Well Sonic, can you tell us why you're here then?" Silver asks.

"It was suppose to be a surprise…" Sonic voices trails off.

"Sonic & I are going to be in a official Olympic video game!" Mario blurts out happily.

"Really?!" Silver eyes widen in excitement. "That's amazing!"

"Since it is such an important event, we decided to help each other." Sonic tells him.

" Was Mario trying to help you learn how to swim?"

"Yes and in exchange Sonic will help me improve my running skills." Mario answers.

"Wow! The companionship between you two is so inspiring!" Silver says with a star struck look in his eyes.

"As long as you remember that I won't hold anything back when the real games begin." Sonic smiles at Mario.

"Of course not. It's always good to do your best when completing in anything. That's how I won all of those parties." Mario says proudly.

Sonic looks at Mario aghast. "What kind of parties are you talking about?!"

"The ones where my friends & I run around on a different series of board games." Mario explains.

"Oh those.." Sonic breathes a sigh of relief before continuing to talk with Mario.

Shadow scowls yet again as he takes out a small notepad. He flips the notepad open to a list of possible suspects and crosses out Mario's name with a pen. "I can't believe I was wrong.." He mutters to himself.

"Excuse me?"

Shadow looks up and sees Princess Peach looking at him sadly.

"How could you accuse Mario of such a horrible act?!"

"It all added up! It makes perfect sense once you think about it!" Shadow snaps at her.

Silver steps in between the two. "Hi, Miss Princess. I'm terribly sorry for how my friend has acted towards you. He won't do it again. Isn't that right, Shadow?" Silver asks giving Shadow a rather deadly glare.

_Why is everyone against me today?_ "Fine fine. I won't yell at you again. I promise." Shadow grumbles.

Peach smiles at Silver. "Thank you for helping. You don't need to apologize though. You didn't do anything wrong."

Silver turns away blushing.

"What's your problem?" Shadow asks.

"I'm.. a little shy around girls…"

"We're wasting our time here. Let's go. There's someone else I want to question." Shadow tells him.

Moments later Silver & Shadow are in the buggy as they begin to exit the Nintendo Gym Parking Lot.

Silver wistfully stares at the terrain ahead. "I hope you're not going to overreact again."

"Hmmph. I never overreact."

"Of course you don't."

Shadow glares back at Silver. "I can let you walk to our next location."

"I'll be quiet…"

"Shadow?"

He sighs. "What is it now, Silver?"

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to visit the next suspect, Bubsy Bobcat!"

**To Be Continued…**

_Author Notes: This story is based a rough draft written around Spring 2007. It's a little outdated by now. I find it rather ironic that Shadow actually did end up in the Mario & Sonic Olympic game. I certainly didn't expect that when I first wrote this story many months ago…__Anyway I hope you enjoy the story. Bye for now! _


	2. The Second & Third Suspect

_**In our last chapter we discovered that someone had sent Sonic a death threat in the mail. Shadow decided that he could solve the case and was reluctantly joined by Silver. Together they set forth to solve the mystery.**_

**The Great Video Game Mystery! **

**Who is Trying to Kill Sonic?**

**By Sonic2nd**

**Chapter Two: The Second & Third Suspect**

Shadow knocks on the door of an average looking house. The door opens and out steps Bubsy the Bobcat.

"Hiya, fellows! Want to come in? I sure do love getting visitors!"

"Yes, I would like to visit your quaint little home." Shadow answers as the two enter the house.

"Psst!" Silver whispers in a very quiet voice. "Who is this guy?"

"A former platforming video game character from the 90's. Isn't that right?" He asks waiting for Bubsy to speak up again.

"That's correct. It's been a while since I was actually in a game though." His face lights up with anticipation. "Do you two work for a video game company?"

"Well.. yes." Silver begins. "We both work for Sega."

"And is this 'Sega' thinking about putting me back in a brand new game? Or in a spin-off cartoon series?"

"No video game company is interested in reviving your series! Stop asking such idiotic questions!" Shadow snaps at him before quickly regaining his calm composure. "Now tell me this, Bubsy. Just how successful was your last video game?"

"The 3D one? Umm.. How should I put it? It didn't go as well as Accolade would have liked."

"And how exactly does that make you feel?" Shadow asks.

"Why are you asking him that? Are you trying to be his therapist?" Silver whispers to him.

"Of course not! I'm merely trying to get the answers I need!" He pauses before speaking up again.

"Say Bubsy, did you know that Sonic the Hedgehog is still staring in games? In fact he has a couple of upcoming games that the fans are eagerly waiting for. Even though one of his games in 3D flopped."

"That's good for him. You know, that he still has a ongoing career."

Shadow studies Bubsy carefully trying to find any sign of guilt. "Doesn't that make you jealous?"

"No, not at all."

"You mean to tell me that you're perfectly fine with it? Knowing that other video game characters can survive while you'll simply fade into oblivion?"

"I said I'm fine with it! I don't need to make any more games to prove my self worth!"

"So to fill that void in your life you started to plan on getting rid of the competition! The characters who still have careers!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Sonic has received a death threat from a unpopular video game character! Someone who was bitter about being forgotten & neglected! And that person was you!"

"I would never do that!"

"ADMIT IT!"

"Shadow! Calm down!" Silver tells him.

Shadow picks Bubsy up by the scuff of his neck. "You better not be lying to me."

"I'm not! Honest!"

_I should stop Shadow before he does something he'll regret later. _Silver thinks. "Mister Bubsy, would it be okay for us to search your house?"

"Only if your friend puts me down!" Shadow abruptly lets go of Bubsy.

"Don't you dare try to escape or else!" Shadow growls at the already frighten Bubsy.

"I won't, Mister Sega character." Bubsy answers in a timid voice as Silver heads into a different room.

"Shadow, come here! I found something!"

"You found proof, didn't you?" Shadow questions Silver eager to know what he has to tell him.

"Actually.." Silver begins to say as he holds up Bubsy's stationary. "This means he didn't do it."

"How can that be?" Shadow asks.

"Don't you remember? The letter that Sonic received was typed on recycled paper. This isn't. Also Bubsy doesn't appear to have a computer. Most letters are typed on computer these days, right?" Silver holds up a typewriter.

"Isn't that a primate typing device?" Shadow asks.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it where I come from."

Shadow roughly snatches the typewriter away from Silver's clutches. He places it down on a desk and randomly presses different letters. "Most of these buttons are stuck! What a useless piece of junk!"

Bubsy peeks into the room. "Do you guys need my help with anything?"

"Yes, we do. Bubsy, can you tell us what exactly this is?" Silver asks while pointing to the typewriter.

Bubsy sighs. I can't afford a computer like everyone else. I had to settle for a broken typewriter instead." He shakes his head sadly. "I can't even get every letter to work."

"Which letters?" Silver asks.

"The letters 'A', 'S' & 'D'. "

"That means you couldn't have written that letter!" Silver points out. "Otherwise you would have to write in those three missing letters with a pen or pencil." Shadow slams his hands down on the typewriter in frustration. "That means we don't any reason to stay here then, do we?"

Silver hands Bubsy his typewriter back. "I'm sorry if we've inconvenienced you in anyway."

"That means you two are leaving right?"

"Correct." Shadow responds.

"You don't have to leave so soon."

"Why is that?" Silver asks.

Bubsy eyes start to water. "I'm just so lonely!"

"Spare us your sob story, Bubsy! We're leaving and that's final!" Shadow storms out of the house.

Silver sadly waves goodbye to Bubsy before following Shadow outside. He jumps into the buggy as Shadow starts up the engine.

"Shadow, why don't you let me question the next suspect?"

"Why should I?"

"Well.. If this keeps up everyone in the video game world is likely to hate you."

"Hmmph, I don't care about that."

"Don't you want people to like you?"

"No, I only want to complete my mission…"

A short while later the two reach another house. Shadow knocks on the door.

"Open the door. I need to speak with you."

A minute passes. Shadow knocks on the door again. "This is very important! Open up!"

Silver peeks inside the front window. "I see someone. He appears to be watching TV."

"I know you're in there!" A furious Shadow yells. After receiving no answer yet again an enraged Shadow kicks the door down.

"It feels a bit drafty in here. Can someone close the window?" A voice calls out. Shadow follows the sound of the voice, which leads him into the living room. He sees that the figure is sitting down in a comfy chair.

"Get up! I have a few questions to ask you."

"Hey!" Silver quickly enters the room pouting. "You questioned the last two, now it's my turn!"

"Fine, but I sincerely doubt that you'll be able to surpass me."

Silver ignores Shadow's remark and turns to face the seated figure. "Sir? Could you please stand up? I need to talk to you."

"Can't."

"What do you mean by that?!" Shadow yells.

"Shh! I'll handle this." Silver turns the chair around revealing the figure to be a vastly overweigh Gex the Gecko.

"As you can see." Gex begins to say. "I can't get up. I'm stuck in my chair."

Silver looks at Shadow confused. "He's one of the suspects because?"

"He didn't use to look this way. He used to be very skinny." Shadow says defending himself.

"Yeah, yeah I know. But times have been tough. My career hasn't gone anywhere in a long time. What's the point of trying anymore? You get no where in the end." A defeated looking Gex slouches further down in his chair.

"How could you let this happen to you? Aren't you suppose to be a spy?" Shadow asks.

"You really don't know anything about me, do you?" Gex inquires.

"What exactly do you mean by that Mister..?" Silver asks.

"Gex. You see, in my games I would go on all sorts of exciting adventures. But I could only get there by going into this world in the tv."

"A tv world?" Silver questions.

"Yeah, I said that already. Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Are you still making games to this day?"

"Nope, my game career ended a few years ago. So here I am doing what I always do." He picks up a remote control & begins to flip through many different channels.

"What is it that you do?" Silver asks while staring at the gecko intently.

"You're looking at it." Gex replies.

"All you're doing is staring at the television screen." Shadow points out.

"Bingo! Now how about you two get me some snacks?"

Silver glances at the tv then back at Gex. "When was the last time you got out of your chair?"

"Hmmm. It has been a while. About a couple of weeks to be exact." Gex answers.

"He could of deliberately gained weight just to throw us off his trail." Shadow tells Silver.

"No he couldn't of." Silver sighs. "It's just another dead end. I guess it's time to go find the next person. We'll be leaving now. Bye Mister Gex."

They walk outside & towards the parked buggy. Just as they about to get in a small winged figure lands on the roof of the buggy. It is a red shelled winged koopa.

"Are you two friends of Sonic the Hedgehog?" The koopa asks.

"Yes, why do you want to know?" Shadow stares suspiciously at the koopa. "I was sent to inform you that your friend has been hurt."

Silver gasps. "This means that the real culprit has struck again! We have to go & see Sonic before it's too late!"

**To Be Continued…..**


	3. The Forth Suspect

_**After interviewing the second & third suspect Shadow & Silver find out that Sonic has been attacked! **_

**The Great Video Game Mystery! **

**Who is Trying to Kill Sonic?**

**By Sonic2nd**

**Chapter Three: The Forth Suspect**

"_Are you two Sonic's friends?" The koopa asks._

"_Yes, why do you want to know?" Shadow stares suspiciously at the koopa. _

"_I was sent to inform you that your friend has been hurt." _

_Silver gasps. "This means that the real culprit has struck again! We have to go & see Sonic before it's too late!"_

The winged koopa leads the two hedgehogs to a crowd of spectators outside of the Nintendo Gym. Shadow pushes his way through the crowd. Once he reaches the front he sees Sonic lying on the ground with Mario beside him.

"What happened here?" Shadow asks a worried looking Mario.

"Sonic went out to get a drink from the soda machine. After a few minutes I went outside to check up on him."

"And?"

"And I found him like this. Is he going to be okay?"

Shadow glares at Mario.

"What?" Mario asks innocently.

"This soda machine isn't bobby trapped is it?"

"No, of course not." Mario answers.

"Shadow!"

He groans at hearing Silver speak his name. "What is it now?!"

"You said you weren't going to accuse Mario again." Silver points out.

"I'm not! I'm accusing this stupid machine!" He kicks at it.

Silver looks upward surveying the gym.

"Sonic's attacker could have gotten him by jumping off the gym's roof and ambushing him."

"So the roof repair man is the one who did this…" Shadow begins.

"I didn't say that."

Silver notices the trash container near the soda machine. He removes the lid and peaks inside.

"There's no trash in here."

Mario walks over and looks inside as well. "That's strange. The trash usually doesn't get picked up until the end of the week."

"Ughh." Sonic moans as he sits up.

"Sonic, are you alright?!" Mario asks.

"Yeah sure. It's nothing. I've been though much worse then this." He notices Shadow staring at him. "Did I miss anything?"

"You were attacked." Shadow answers.

"That's obvious." Sonic tells him.

"Did you happen to catch a glimpse of the suspect?" Shadow asks.

"If I knew who it was I would be after him already."

"Sonic, I think we should bring you to a safer location." Silver informs him.

"You worry too much, Silver." Sonic says.

"He's right." Eggman says as he steps into view.

"Aha! The Doctor did it! I knew it!" Shadow smiles proudly. "Case solved!"

"It wasn't me you buffoon!" Eggman shouts at Shadow. "Think about it, Would I attack Sonic secretly?"

"He has a point." Sonic says.

"Don't take his side!" Shadow yells at him.

Eggman places his hands on Sonic's shoulders. "Sonic, listen to me. You need to live. If you were to die who would take your place?"

"Shadow coughs slightly before speaking up. "I could." Sonic & Eggman both begin to laugh at Shadow's statement.

"I don't get it." Silver remarks.

"Me either." Mario says.

"Grr! I don't see what's so funny about it!" Shadow turns away frowning.

"Anyway Sonic can stay in my base. He'll be perfectly safe there."

"That sounds like a good idea." Mario replies with Silver nodding in agreement.

Eggman takes out a remote and presses a button. His hovercraft descends landing on the ground. "Let's go, Sonic."

"I don't want to be cooped up in some stuffy old base."

Mario hands Sonic a book. "You can read this so you don't get bored."

Sonic looks at the book's title. 'The Basic Guide to Plumbing'.

"Uh.. thanks Mario."

"Your welcome, Sonic." Mario replies cheerfully.

Shadow begins to walk off. "Come along, Silver."

"We're still searching for the suspect?"

"Sadly yes. Although I still think we should throw the Doctor in jail. He seems to be acting suspicious."

"I thought he always acted like that?"

"Eggman's eccentric. He's a difficult man to figure out."

"…..So who are we going to question next?" Silver asks.

Shadow & Silver are now at a tree. Shadow knocks on a door that is carved into the tree.

"Open up." Shadow demands.

"Who lives here?" Silver asks him.

"Rocky the Rodent." Shadow answers.

"Come on, Shadow. Why pick him? What does he have to do with all of this?

"He was a video game character from the 90's."

"I think we should go back to where Sonic was attacked. We might find more clues."

"There were no more clues there."

"Yes, there was! Remember the missing trash?"

"So?"

"I think that had something to do with this."

"You're merely jumping to illogical conclusions!" Shadow yells.

"That's what you've been doing!" Silver yells back.

The door makes a loud creaking sound as Rocky steps out.

"Hiya, fellas! I'm Rocky! Rocky the Rodent! Yep, that's me!"

The two stare at Rocky in disbelief.

"I don't think he did it." Silver tells Shadow.

"Then you can be quiet while I question him! Rocky, have you heard about Sonic lately?"

"I love eating at that place! The food there is so yummy!" Rocky answers.

"Not that Sonic. I was talking about Sonic; Sega's mascot."

"Yeah, I like that basketball team too!"

"No you fool! Sonic! As in the Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Oh, I get it! You mean a sonnet!"

"Quit playing dumb!" Shadow yells at the rodent.

"I love playing! Let's pretend we're pirates! You can be Blackboard the pirate!"

"Don't you mean Blackbeard?" Silver asks.

"Let's go find treasure!"

"You haven't been listening to me at all! You.. you insipid excuse of a video game character!"

"Aww! That's so sweet! I love you too!" Rocky hugs Shadow, which only enrages him further.

"I'm going to kill you if you don't let go of me!" Silver rushes over and pulls Rocky off.

Shadow shudders. "I can't believe that thing had the nerve to do that!"

"He didn't mean any harm." Silver points out.

"No, he's much too stupid to do any damage to me or anyone else for that matter." He sighs frustrated.

"Hey new friends, let's play hide and seek. I'll go first!" Rocky giggles as he runs off.

Shadow frowns before shrugging it off. "Oh well." He takes out his notepad and crosses out Rocky's name. Silver leans over peaking at the notepad. "Umm Shadow? How many people are on your list of suspects?"

"133 why?"

"That's a lot of people."

"This is going to take some time. You need to have patience, Silver."

"I do it's just.." Silver stops.

"Whatever it is you want to say you better say it."

"I don't think your methods are working at all."

"How can you say that?! We're making great progress!"

"It doesn't look at way to me.." Silver says quietly.

"Fine! I'll continue the search on my own then! I don't need you slowing me down anyway."

He teleports away leaving Silver behind.

Silver sighs sadly. _How could he just leave me like this?_

He looks around before slumping to the ground sulking.

_What am I going to do now?_

To Be Continued….


	4. The Final Suspect! Mystery Solved!

In our last chapter..

"Fine! I'll continue the search on my own then! I don't need you slowing me down anyway."

He teleports away leaving Silver behind.

Silver sighs sadly. _How could he just leave me like this?_

He looks around before slumping to the ground sulking.

_What am I going to do now?_

And now the final chapter begins...

_I can't let Shadow get to me. I'll solve this on my own. Let's see what do I usually do when I need help? I go and talk to Blaze. But I can't get to Blaze she's stuck in that confusing time resetting paradox plot hole. I have no idea on how to reach her. Hmm.. what's something that desperate people use?_

Silver continues to ponder his dilemma until an idea suddenly strikes!

_That's it! I'll use the internet!!_

A few days later….

"Shadow! Shadow!" Silver rushes into a café while waving a piece of paper in his hand.

A weary looking Shadow glares at Silver. "How did you know I was here?"

"I asked around & everyone told me the same answer. That you always go into this café on poetry day."

"There's nothing wrong with liking poetry! It's a legitimate form of literature!"

"I didn't say there was anything wrong with it."

Silver looks at Shadow more closely and notices that his eyes are bloodshot. "You look like you haven't gotten any sleep."

"Ha! I don't need sleep! I'm the Ultimate Lifeform! All I need is this triple caffeine coffee to keep me going." He says before taking a sip. "You shouldn't be bothering me anyway, psychic boy. I'm getting closer to solving this mystery for good!"

"Oh..umm.. about that.. I sorta figured it out already."

"No! It's not possible! You couldn't have! I won't let you take this away from me!"

"But Shadow, the whole point was to solve this as quickly as we could. We don't want Sonic to be in any more danger."

"I didn't do this for Sonic! I did it for me! When I start something I always finish it. No matter what! Whenever it's exacting revenge upon the earth or shooting at aliens. I see it through. It's who I am!"

Silver stares at Shadow looking completely bewildered.

"You wanted the earth gone?"

Shadow ignores him & continues to rant. "I don't get it. How could I let some newcomer upstage me?! I was almost done! I was at suspect 71 out of 133! I.. I.." He puts his head down on the table & falls asleep.

Two hours & one minute later.

"Are you awake yet, sleepy head?"

Shadow mumbles something incoherently before sitting up.

"I feel like I've been sleeping for hours." He glances at his wristwatch. Why didn't you wake up sooner?!"

"I thought that you needed it. You were getting very cranky & it scared me a little. But now that you're done with your nap, we should get going. I'll tell how I found out who the attempted murderer was on our way there."

Shadow follows Silver as he leads him out of the café.

_This is terrible! How could I let some new character upstage me? It's not right. Not right at all.._ Shadow begins to lose himself in his own thoughts while Silver continues talking.

"The first clue was the line from the letter '_My own success might have been small.' _You should know Shadow. You've been at Sega longer then me."

"About being a truly successful character. Yes, I do know all about that."

Silver looks at Shadow puzzled. "No, I meant something that Sega has made that could be considered small in size."

"Those robot girls for lonely old men? Or those robot dogs for children?"

Silver gets a perplexed look on his face. _Sega makes robot girls?! But why? _

" No, not those things. I'm talking about the Game Gear Sega's portable handheld gaming system. And the 2nd clue was in the paper that the letter was printed on. It was recyclable paper. And the final clue was at the gym where Sonic was attacked. All of the trash was removed. What does that tell you?"

"I know! You're telling me that Ristar did it!" Shadow exclaims.

"What?! I don't get how you could say such things while you think of me as the naïve one."

Before Shadow can respond he feels a small object hitting him in the back of his head. The object (a plastic water bottle) drops to the ground.

An angry looking Shadow turns around. "No one gets away with hitting me. Prepare yourself!"

He sees a possum holding a bag of recyclables.

"What's your problem, garbage man?"

"Shadow, that's…" Silver starts to say.

"Quiet, Silver! Let him answer!" Shadow snaps back.

"I did it!" The possum says.

"Yes, we know that you threw the bottle."

"It was me! I'm the one who attacked Sonic the Hedgehog! Me! Awesome Possum!" The possum declares.

Shadow crosses his arms while looking doubtful. "It's not nice to take credit for another person's work. Sonic couldn't have been attacked by someone like you."

"He's not lying. He is the one behind it all. I have proof on this printout." Silver tries to show the printout to Shadow but he turns his head refusing to look at it.

"I don't believe it." Shadow scoffs.

"It's true, you idiot!" The enraged possum stares at the two intently with a murderous gleam in his eyes. "And once you two are out of the way, I'll get rid of Sonic the Hedgehog and take his place. I will become Sega's true mascot! But I'll give you one chance. If you answer my question correctly I'll let you live as my sidekicks."

"Sidekicks?! Just who do you think you're dealing with?!" Shadow clenches his fists in rage.

Silver takes a step forward. "I'm ready to answer any question you give me!"

"You can't bargain with him! He wants us to be mere sidekicks! We're better then that!" Shadow shouts at the young hedgehog.

Silver looks at Shadow with a cheerful smile on his face. "That's the first nice thing you've said to me. Don't worry Shadow. I won't let you down."

"I wasn't saying it to be nice.." Shadow mutters.

"In what year did the Man of the Mountain lose his face?" Awesome Possum crackles as he waits for Silver's answer.

"1999?"

"Wrong! Now you shall pay with your life!" He laughs evilly as he throws a plastic bottle at Silver.

Silver uses his power to suspend the bottle in midair. "Now that I think about it a object like this wouldn't really hurt me."

"Curses! Blasted hedgehog!" Awesome Possum then notices that Shadow has disappeared. _Where did the other hedgehog go?_

"It's not wise to ever let your guard down around me!" Shadow says as he sneaks up on Awesome Possum and grabs his arms.

"Wow! How did you do that?" Silver asks.

"It's a little trick that Rouge taught me." Shadow answers before speaking up again. "It's over possum, give up."

"It's never over!" Awesome Possum whacks Shadow with his tails causing him to let go.

"I will keep fighting as long as I have to!" He declares while grabbing his bag of recyclables.

"What even makes you think that you could be consider a worthy rival to any of us?" Shadow asks.

"You don't understand!" Awesome Possum yells back. "My game was wonderful! I shouldn't have been forgotten & left behind. Besides, what's so special about Sonic anyway? Does he talk in digitized speech? Does he teach the children about our environment? No! All he does is run around really fast! I have so much more to offer! I'm much better then him! You'll see!"

He swings his bag at Shadow who ducks out of the way. He then raises his arm & yells. "Chaos Spear!" A small bolt of lighting hits the bag tearing a hole in it. As the hole gets bigger the empty bottles start to fall to the ground.

"My precious recyclables! What have you done to them?!" He shrieks hysterically. He picks up the bottles and puts them back into the ripped bag as fast as he can.

"What's his problem?" Shadow wonders aloud.

"I think Awesome Possum has a compulsive disorder which makes him clean." Silver answers.

"Is that so?" Shadow smiles evilly as he takes out his notepad. He rips a page out and throws it on the ground.

Awesome Possum sees that and begins to panic.

"What are you doing?! STOP THAT!" He snatches the piece of paper off the ground. He looks around frantically. "I need to recycle this! But I.. I don't see anywhere to put it! How can this be?!"

He hears a tearing sound and sees that Shadow has another piece of paper in his hands. He starts to tear up the paper into little pieces.

"Don't drop them! I beg you!" Awesome Possum pleads.

"I won't if you give yourself up." Shadow responds.

Tears come to the possum's eyes. He struggles to remain calm. "I've worked so hard to come this far. I can't! There's no way!"

Shadow simply shrugs. "If that's how you want to be." He lets the pieces of paper fall to the ground.

"**NOOOOO!!!**" The possum screams as he runs to pick up the paper. He lets go of the bag, which causes the bottles to scatter across the ground. "This mess! I need to clean it! I have to! My bag.. I need my bag!"

Shadow picks the bag up and holds it away from the possum's grasp.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" Awesome Possum cries out.

"Not unless you turn yourself in." Shadow stares at the possum as he collapses to the ground sobbing. "I can't take it anymore.. You win.. I give up…"

Shadow & Silver watch as the police arrive. They handcuff Awesome Possum and lead him away into the police car.

"You actually did it. I'm impressed." A familiar voice speaks out.

The two turn and see Sonic limping over towards them. His left leg now in a cast.

"Sonic, you should be taking it easy!" Silver warns him with a worried look on his face.

"I have nothing to worry about. You two caught the suspect. It did take me by surprise though. I never thought that you two could get along long enough to accomplish this."

Shadow crosses his arms & turns away from Sonic scowling.

"As touchy as ever I see." Sonic smirks. "So.. which one of you figured it out, anyway?"

Shadow immediately turns around facing the two again. "It was me!"

Silver frowns looking quite annoyed. "That's not true! I found out who it was! All Shadow did was chose the wrong suspects!"

"I was the one who made the suspect turn himself in! Which is more then you did!" Shadow yells at the young hedgehog.

"No, it's not!" Silver yells back.

While the two continue to argue Sonic limps over to the police car, eager to see the face of the true suspect. He peeks through the window & looks at Awesome Possum. The possum gives Sonic a death glare in return.

"Hmmm.." Sonic begins to say.

"What is it?" The possum asks with hope in his eyes.

"Are you sure that you're a video game character? I don't recognize you at all. Just who are you suppose to be anyway?"

Awesome Possum lets that sink in for a moment before becoming truly enraged.

"How can you say that?! I'm **AWESOME POSSUM! AWESOME POSSUM!!"** He continues to yell hysterically as the policeman pushes him into the backseat of the police car. The three hedgehogs watch in silence as the car drives away.

"At least we caught him before he could hurt anyone else." Silver remarks.

"If you had been a little faster though you could have caught him before he got to me." Sonic points out.

Shadow gives Sonic a warning look. "You should be grateful that we even went through all of this trouble in the place. Hmm…"

"What is it?" Silver asks.

"Seeing that police car reminded me that I have to get back to my buggy!" Shadow says before teleporting himself away.

"I don't get it. If he has the ability to teleport why does he need a vehicle?" Silver asks Sonic who shrugs in reply.

Moments later Shadow arrives at Gex's house only to find that the buggy is nowhere in sight!

"My previous buggy! It's gone! Grr! Whoever's stolen my buggy had better be prepared to deal with my angry wrath when I find them!"

Meanwhile the buggy is on the road & in it are Bubsy Bobcat, Gex the Gecko, & Jazz Jackrabbit.

"Do you think that scary hedgehog will notice that his car is gone?" Bubsy asks Jazz who steers the buggy around a tight corner.

"Who cares? That jerk deserves it for treating us the way he did."

"I've got a idea." Gex speaks up. "Let's all go to Vegas!"

"The three cheer in agreement as the buggy drives away into the sunset.

The End

**Author Notes: Please, don't read this part until you've finished the entire story! Spoilers Below!**

Did you figure out who it was? I hope I left enough clues.. Someone mentioned Alex Kidd & now that I think about it he probably would have made a better suspect. But I'm not all that familiar with the character or his games. I didn't even know he existed until I read an article about the (Japan Only) Segaga game for the Dreamcast.

I originally got the idea for this story after looking through many video game magazines from the early 90's. Around the time that Sonic was super popular & there were a lot of Sonic copycat characters. I thought 'What if one of these characters came back to kill Sonic?'.

I went through a list of several characters and decided to pick the most pathetic looking one. That turned out to be Awesome Possum. His game (Which I believe appeared only on the Sega Game Gear) was all about recycling & protecting the environment. It looked like it was another forgettable platformer. While researching information about the game & character to my delight I found out that the game itself was a direct rip off of the 2d Sonic games that were around at the time. That cinched it for me & Awesome Possum became the true suspect.

I hope you enjoyed the story & thanks to everyone who left me reviews. I really appreciate it!


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